The Chinese Language Institute

Categories

Archive

This past weekend all of China had two reasons to celebrate, as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese National Day fell just days apart. Here at CLI, our teachers and students took a much-deserved break from classes and decided to kick back, relax, and join in the festivities.

On Saturday night CLI hosted a rooftop barbecue to celebrate the halfway point of Fall on the Chinese lunar calendar. CLI staff, teachers and students all pitched in to make delicious kabobs from local Guilin produce. As night fell, tables, chairs and grills were carried up to the roof to greet the full moon with a rockin’ CLI party!

A backyard barbecue, Guilin style.

The next evening, CLI teachers and students honored the Mid-Autumn Festival with the releasing of traditional Chinese lanterns. After sunset, they gathered along the banks of the Li River and inscribed their wishes onto the soft paper of the lanterns. They then lit the wicks and sent them into the air! As far as the eye could see, these paper lanterns dotted the night sky over Guilin.

Students sign their wishes in the sky.

Lighting the lanterns can be half the battle.

On Monday afternoon, as the rest of the country took the day off for Chinese National Day, CLI students and staff gathered on the soccer field of Guangxi Normal University to play a little American football. Under crisp, blue skies and pleasant autumn weather, touchdowns replaced textbooks and classroom teachings were swapped for cries of “jiayou!”

Celebrating National Day with some American football.

With Fall in full swing in Guilin, CLI has a packed calendar of student activities, cultural excursions, and world-class Mandarin learning. Check back with us to read updates to our blog, and follow us on Facebook for all the latest news!